More Scary Vanilla Monsters

By popular demand, more vanilla D&D monsters get the scary treatment.

Ogres join the ranks of "things that want to eat you", but are much more sophisticated. They have elaborate methods for slaughtering their prey, often leaving them alive for the first few courses. They refuse to waste a scrap of meat or bone and practically everything they own is made from a part of some unfortunate victim.

Hobgoblins are invaders from a distant continent. Next to their colossal empire the known world is a minor continent. Their technology is always slightly ahead of humans. When we had bows, they had crossbows. When we had muskets they had Gatling guns. Their ships are ironclad and their military strategies incredibly cunning.

Owlbears are the Jason Voorhees of the animal kingdom. They stalk the woods at night, killing anyone that disturbs their peace. They're far tougher than they seem, but will play dead or flee when a fight is going against them. If this happens they will obsessively track their opponents and attack when their quarry is weakest. With extremely acute scent and vision it's near impossible to lose an Owlbear that's following you.

Gelatinous Cubes are already terrifying in life. In death their structure collapses to flood their surroundings with a mix of paralysing toxin and burning acid. Anyone that succumbs to both of these fluids will lie very still while they slowly melt.

Make Vanilla Monsters Scary

That first level dungeon needn't be a complete borefest.

Giant Spiders are apex predators, hiding in dark cracks until they pounce on you. They come with a Save or Die bite as standard.

Trolls regenerate from any amount of damage. Limbs can drag themselves back to torsos and reassemble. The reason they're so ugly is that you're not the first person to try burning them.

Orcs aren't much different from humans, physiologically. The scary part is that they're complete bastards and there are hundreds of them. The room with four orcs is a trap. The rest of the gang is waiting behind the door with firebombs and a complete lack of morals.

Goblins are innately magical and just want to screw with you. They'll turn your water into piss, wake up the sleeping dragon and pack your firewood full of exploding fairydust. If you chop one in half you'll spawn two smaller, squeakier goblins. If you set one on fire he'll turn into a mini-elemental. When they hide under a rock you'll lift it to find nothing but a stinkbomb. Just hope you never run into one of these creatures.

Giant Rats are completely filthy. Even if you don't get bitten you're not getting out of a giant rat nest without something. Ticks, fleas, general itchiness. Your digestive system won't be quite right for days afterwards. Oh, and remember how Orcs are never alone? If you see a lone Giant Rat prepare for company.

Gnolls will eat you. This is Plan A and they don't have much of a backup. Once they get your scent they'll gang up on the weakest in the herd and try to pin him down so they can start dinner. If the rest of the party puts up a fight they'll make sure their meal gets dragged with them while they retreat.

When your players tire of dying and running away perhaps they'll think of a better way to get the treasure.

Odd Encounters - Errand Doll

The Errand Doll
STR 3, DEX 10, WIL 13, 5hp. d4 attack.

Surrounded by a 5ft whistling cloud that it controls. Anyone in the cloud takes 1d6 burning damage each turn, ignoring armour. The doll can see through the cloud. The cloud may not leave the doll's home, typically a single structure.

This tiny doll will issue an errand to any group it encounters. Roll a d6 to see if this task is mundane (6), nearly impossible (1) or somewhere in between. The doll's cloud will follow the group and attack them if they seem to be going off course or not taking the errand seriously.

If they complete the errand the doll will offer its services for any single errand in return. The doll will attempt this regardless of its difficulty.

The Secret Purpose of Setting

Psst! Come closer. This is a secret.

I designed the regions of Into the Odd's setting to rather sneakily act as Signposts for the core stuff a player needs to know.


The Sister States

Rosevine is a city in the middle of a chaotic Revolution. The only remaining monarch we hear of is in the middle of being overthrown. Oh, and she might be a shape-shifting reptoid.

Bastion is a truly modern, Industrial city. Canals connect it with the rest of the world and it sits on vaults filled with weird stuff.

Starfall is a city built on the ruins of Astral Visitors. It's filled with star cults, universities and weird places to explore.

Now the reader know that this is an Industrial world, filled with Revolutions and the lingering influence of Astral Visitors. 


The Frontiers

The Islands demonstrate the reach of the Sister States as a Colonial power.

The Golden Lands are mostly unknown to the Sister States, showing just how Vast the world is.

The Polar Ocean acts as the ultimate Mystery for any explorer.

Now the reader knows that, while the Sister States have the reach of a Colonial power, the world is Vast and Mysterious, leaving lots of white space on the map and potential rival powers.

The Odd World - Why Visit the Polar Ocean?

This is the final post covering the six main regions of the Odd World. We've seen the crumbling glory of Rosevine, the smoke-filled hub of Bastion and the alien weirdness of Starfall. Beyond the Sister States we've seen the loosely colonised Islands and the dauntingly massive continent of the Golden Lands. Now we arrive at the deadliest and most mysterious frontier yet, the Polar Ocean. This is what the game document has to say.

The great Polar Ocean stretches as far North as anyone has ventured. Few explorers return and each brings a different story. Some talk of a shining paradise and some of a passage to the stars themselves. The mysteries of this Ocean continue to draw explorers to their death.

Things to do in the Polar Ocean
- Die horribly.
- Never return.
- Barely make it back to civilization as a babbling husk of your former self.

Polar exploration is something of a last resort here. There are plenty of unexplored islands and a whole continent to your South. Anyone that tries to solve the mysteries of the world by sailing North deserves what they get.

The Odd World - Why Visit the Golden Lands?

The Golden Lands represent an entirely different frontier to The Islands. The latter seem tame and manageable compared to this sprawling continent. Here's what the game document has to say. 

The distant continent to the South starts as sweltering jungle and impassible swamp, leading to an endless stretch of desert. Dotted amongst the feral cultures are great cities filled with riches. These distant kingdoms watch the amassing guns of the Sister States and hide their own forces and Arcane secrets.

Things to Do in the Golden Lands
- Get some gold! They wouldn't call it the Golden Lands for no reason, would they?
- Stir up a war with the Sister States. The industrialised regions here are more than capable of mounting a sizeable, mobile army.
- Bring the wonders of technology or astral worship to the feral cultures. Just try not to get murdered.
- If you thought the Astrals left an impact on the Sister States wait until you see what's crashed in the jungle.
- Hunt primordial beasts, perhaps even bringing one back to the Sister States alive.
- There are ancient ruins down here too, you know. Civilization has been here just as long as back at home and there are plenty of fallen societies.
- Find out what lies beyond of the endless desert. Even the locals don't seem to be sure.

The Odd World - Why Visit the Islands?

There's a whole world beyond the Sister States. Those that are most influenced by Rosevine, Bastion and Starfall are the Islands. Here's what the game document has to say about them.

Tiny specks of land dot the ocean to the West and East of the Sister States. Most settlements are colonies of the Sister States but some native societies prevail. Life here is simpler but more lawless than in the Sister States. Uprisings against colonial rule are on the increase. 

Things to do on the Islands

- Establish your own colony, peacefully or otherwise.

- Free the native population from colonial rule. 

- Explore forbidden caves, jungles and swamps where natives tell of strange happenings. 

- Track down the mythical wandering island. 

- Try a new fangled submersible vessel and dive to the ocean floor to see the strange, metal wreckage lying there. 

- Bring the joys of astral worship to the natives or free them of the influence of sinister sects. 

- Just get away from everyone in the Sister States who wants you dead and work on your tan.